About Winning
by silverkaze
Summary: Sakura is the best student in her level in Japan, she is also the most popular girl in her school. She has an enemy and a zealous admirer-both would stop at nothing, and Syaoran, a clever, egoistic jerk turns up and adds on to her troubles. Somebody help!
1. Prologue

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Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to Clamp. Characters used in the plot are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to living characters are unintentional. Plot of "About Winning" belongs to silverg3r. Additional characters not included in original story belong to silverg3r, too. This disclaimer applies to all the following chapters after the prologue. 

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About Winning

Prologue – The Beginning

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"Sakura Kinomoto of class 6A!"

She did it. Sakura had topped the school in the final year-end school-leaving exam, not only breaking the highest records in the school before her, she also was the top student in the town of Tomoeda, and the whole of Japan by scoring nearly full marks for the total. 

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Flashback

Father had once told little Sakura in kindergarten when she won an award – "to be the best, you must put in the best effort you can afford, and only then do you deserve to be the best."

Little Sakura, excited and joyous, shrieked – "Papa, I promise I will do my best!" 

"Promise?" Father waggled his little finger at Sakura. 

"Promise!" Sakura eagerly entwined her tiny little finger around her father's sturdy one. Fujitaka smiled warmly and Sakura grinned back, her smile radiating happiness and sunshine. It lit up Fujitaka's world. They were so alike, the ones he loved most. 

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End flashback

Sakura walked onto the stage, containing her emotions, showing only the tiniest trace of joy. "Don't be feeling happy before you even win the match," Father once said. But inside, she was ecstatic. 

"My father would be happy… " Sakura thought. She and received the examination results certificate and a clean white envelope from her principal and she finally smiled widely, a smile that seemed to radiate sunshine. 

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Sakura entered the tall silver gates of Tokyo High School. She was wearing a neat white blouse and a dark navy skirt. The collar of the blouse was special – it was dark navy blue inside the collar, and their summer uniform looked smart. Students were allowed to wear their own shoes and socks, as long as they weren't too outrageous. 

Sakura had longed to go to Tokyo High School since she first heard of it – it was the best school in Japan, and the school campus was the largest and most majestic of all. 

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Flashback

Sakura opened the fresh white envelop, the stiff paper crackling, and drewout a letter with the Japan Ministry of Education's letterhead.

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Dear Miss Sakura Kinomoto,

Invitation of your entry to Tokyo High School

I, the principal of Tokyo High School am pleased to inform you that you have been invited to enrol in the prestigious Tokyo High School in Tokyo, Japan. The school will gladly accept you, and wishes to seek your agreement.

There are many reasons as to why we wish that you would enrol in our school. As a model student with excellent results and a colourful record in your the co-curriculum activity of cheerleading, we think that it would be best for you too, to come to Tokyo High School to have your talents properly developed. We would like to hear your response as soon as possible, please call to inform us of your decision at 62846625. 

Please note that school will begin on the 2nd of January, and schoolbooks can be bought at any bookstore. The list of materials needed is enclosed. I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely, 

Shouko Tsujitani

Tokyo High School Principal

-

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End flashback

Sakura had also received a scholarship, obviously, because of her grades. That meant that she didn't have to pay for the expensive school fees. 

She walked towards the campus – and many heads turned to look at her, mostly boys, but there were girls. Reason? She was a pretty girl, too. Make that extremely. 

Oh gosh, who knows what lies in wait? 

t. s. u. z. u. k. u.

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Authors note:

Yea man! This idea has been bothering me for ages. Finally got it out. =) [silverg3r snickers] I've got plans…yea. =P people might kill me for not updating the other first… what the heck. I used to swear that I won't write one about high school situations… guess I got to eat my words… haha. But I swear I want to make it different then those mangas, some of which have really silly story lines… [sorry, paiseh la! silverg3r grins] I'm not going to make this fiction all innocent too, that would be boring.

I actually wanted to set this story in university too… but it seems rather difficult… I'll think of some thing else then, another different story line. 

Been thinking… should I do a funny talk show thing that some people do? Maybe not… I've just visited Emode.com, and found out that my sense of humour was SATIRE. I might bore myself to death too. [silverg3r sighs.]

I've got express Chinese GCE O levels in less that two weeks… and the whole darn problem is that we have to study EIGHT books of Chinese handbooks just to be able to answer 5 questions on the words, and 5 questions on the sentence forming. Horrible!

[silverg3r cackles evilly] Please review! I've decided to exclude the characters and their ages, because it seems so stiff and boring. 

[silverg3r fan fiction 2]


	2. Day One

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About Winning

Chapter 1 – Day One

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Author's note: [Hee, if you don't read this… don't blame me if you get stuff wrong… I love to drop hints too.]

I shall say this once more… This story is **not **based on "His and her Circumstances" manga (haven't read it, would like too, someone translate to Chinese or Japanese, onegai.) or "Li's and Kinomoto's Circumstances" fanfiction (I read this, its good. Suge!). I told you, it's unintentional if there was a reference. The story line was cooked up when I was busy studying my brains out from my end of year exams, and got a sense of competitiveness. Ever since I lost narrowly to the cleverest person in our class in chemistry **DX! **By the way, that reviewer does it to every fic he or she reviews, so you don't have to be jealous, I can do that to you too, **dx~**. Hehe. Pardon me la, that's just me lor. Trying to be much more optimistic… rather then pessimistic. =) I love chemistry!

I think being competitive is good, for me, that is. Makes me work harder, and motivates me… sorry…xtreme… =P. **Wada**~ arigato! =) Its really great know you! =) I'm really sorry if I give you a lot of pressure… I really cannot help it, and I succumbed to the pressure of other people studying, if not, I wouldn't study in that kinda 'free period' situation for a million years. I'll rather be writing fics. **Gniq! **Thank you for reviewing my fic when you were sitting beside me. Hee, I didn't notice at all, too absorbed in Hikaru no Go! =)

Everybody work hard for examinations… never give up without a struggle, refuse to. =)

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"Ohayo gozaimasu, Sakura-chan." Tomoyo said cheerfully, sitting herself in the chair diagonally to the left of Sakura, turning back to face Sakura. 

"Ohayo, Tomoyo-chan." Sakura sat in the last row of the classroom, by the windows overlooking the basketball courts. Sakura cheerfully looked up from the book she had been reading and smiled at her closest friend.

Students were streaming into the classroom, and the noise level was rising slowly. Sakura gave a sigh, and put away her book into her bag. She couldn't study properly that way and she considered it wasting her time – she could always do exercises instead.

"It is the first day of school, and you are prepared for more than a week of lessons already! That is so like you, Sakura." Tomoyo admonished, raising a sharp eyebrow. Sakura grinned. She was in a good mood today. Trust Tomoyo to say something like that, always. 

"As if you don't! How contradicting, Tomoyo dear!" Sakura laughed and took out her stationary and a notebook. The sensei was coming in a minute or so, and Sakura liked to be prepared. 

The door slid open and Tereda-sensei entered the classroom, dressed in a neatly pressed gray suit and a tie. Tereda-sensei was one of the more handsome teachers in school, and his hair was smartly gelled in place. Sakura could smell his cologne from the back of the class, after all, today was the first day of school, and everybody had to be in their best.

"Good morning class, welcome back to Tokyo High School for your third year. Today, a transfer student will be joining us for the remaining two years in this school. Li Syaoran, please enter the classroom. 

The students in the class began to whisper, eager to meet the new student. Sakura, however, was not so interested. She was still absorbed in her Mathematics textbook, trying to understand the difficult formulas better. A transfer student did not catch her attention at all, and she was more concerned about her Mathematics, obviously. 

Syaoran stepped through the door - the girls in the class gasped, and Sakura frowned at the noise. Boy, he is one hot cutie, they thought – he was tall and tanned, with a head of dark brown hair that was slightly messy. It matched his amber eyes, which surveyed the classroom. This was always the response he received, but something caught his eye. Hey! Wait a minute, that girl over there isn't even looking at me! That's… abnormal. Syaoran was surprised, but slightly relieved. At least there are people who are different. 

Tomoyo kicked Sakura's table violently but silently, and she looked up. She was confused and her gaze met Syaoran's intense one, giving her a jolt on the inside. What the –? 

"He is looking at you, isn't that great? Because he is so handsome." Tomoyo whispered, clearly excited and a grin on her face. 

Syaoran saw the girl jerk her head up suddenly, unable to hide the surprise and shock of being rudely interrupted by her friend, and it showed in her eyes as she met his gaze. Syaoran realized her eyes were a startling green, an exquisite emerald green that was highlighted against her long eyelashes and black eyeliner. Sakura snapped her head downward to continue reading her textbook, showing no emotion on her features. Syaoran was taken aback. What? No girl had not **not** fallen for his striking looks before. 

"Whatever. I don't see a point," Sakura whispered back, a little bit of anger laced in her voiced, unhappy that she had been disturbed. Tomoyo noticed the little bit of irritation and she smirked. Sakura is still the same old Sakura. Big deal. You can't control where people look anyway, Sakura thought, immersing herself back into the contents of the textbook. 

"Li Syaoran, please sit in the empty seat behind Daidouji-san, to the left of Kinomoto-san. Sakura, please raise your hand." The teachers gestured for Syaoran to settle down quickly. 

'So that girl is Sakura,' thought Syaoran as the green-eyed girl raised her hand half-heartedly. Sakura did not even raise her head to look at him once, or greet him. 

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"I will be returning your Chemistry surprise test we had just before the end-of-year exams last year now, and sadly it will be included in your overall." said Terada-sensei. Groans were heard, the usual response of the class to such an announcement was expected – who wanted to know their horrible marks? He continued. "Anyway, most of the class did well, if you had already done early revision for your end-of-year exams."

"As usual, Kinomoto-san has topped the class and level with a score of ninety-nine marks over a hundred. Kinomoto-san, please come forward to collect your paper." Terada-sensei announced, and the class broke into applause, all except for a single person who simply glared at Sakura's back in response. 

Syaoran looked at Sakura from his seat. Her face remained cool and emotionless, but a light had definitely appeared in her eyes.

Sakura rose from her seat and received her papers from the sensei. Good. But it could still be improved – by a single mark. She must continue to work harder, she was a damned perfectionist. Sakura sat down in her seat, and became aware of a pair of blue eyes fixed on her. Whatever!

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Sakura set her lunch tray down on the table, and Tomoyo joined her. 

"I can't believe I lost to you again by half a mark!" Tomoyo complained. Sakura grinned playfully. An agonized look suddenly came over Tomoyo's face. "Uh oh, look who is here again." Tomoyo emphasized the word "again" loud enough for people around them to notice. 

Janet was sauntering over from 'her' end of the canteen, or so it seems, followed by her clique of friends. Yea, Sakura thought. 

Janet twirled a strand of bleached hair as she approached the table Sakura was at, haughtily and her powdered nose pretty high up in the air. Sakura took no notice, and proceeded to remove the plastic foil from her peanut butter sandwich.

"Hey girl, heard that you topped the level for the super-difficult Chemistry test again," she too emphasizing the word like Tomoyo. Janet drawled on, her bright blue eyes fixed on Sakura with a disdainful stare. 

"Yea, you jealous or something? Go away and stop wasting my time." Sakura retorted, without adverting her eyes from the physics textbook she had brought along to lunch. This infuriated Janet, and an annoyed glint appeared in her eyes.

"You big nerd," Janet muttered, narrowing her eyes by a little to seem intimidating. "I'm here to tell you something. Keep your dirty paws off the hot new guy Li Syaoran, because I'm going to make him mine." Janet hissed, putting heavy emphasis on the words 'dirty' and 'mine'. Although Janet did a pretty good job at being intimidating, Sakura was unfazed, and in other words, Janet failed.

"Yea, sure. Not a problem at all. The whole female population in the school will be after him, and I don't intend to waste my time. I hope there are no more foolish females in the school who thinks I am going to compete with them. And by the way, I don't have paws; I have claws, thank you very much. Is your name written on Li Syaoran? I don't mind if you try to." Sakura said sarcastically, using a tone so cold that the hair on the back of your neck could stand up. She flipped a page nonchalantly. 

Janet rattled furiously. "Why, you! I don't understand why you can be so popular when you are such – a – bi –" 

"I am SO sad! Why, miss smarty-pants Sakura doesn't like me! I am so hurt, my heart aches!" a voice came through the din, cutting the exchange between Sakura and Janet. Sakura looked up, and Janet turned. Leaning on the wall by the staircase next to 'Sakura's table' was Syaoran, his amber eyes glinting mischievously. "Another egoistic ass," muttered Sakura under her breath, and only Tomoyo heard. Tomoyo giggled. 

Janet immediately brushed up her appearance and wiped away the angry look on her features that made her look ugly. She walked slowly over to Syaoran, putting a little catwalk in. "Ooh, hi Syaoran, I'm Janet. Nice to meet you." Janet cooed, batting her fake eyelashes sweetly. She extended a perfectly manicured hand. 

Syaoran shook it, somewhat reluctantly, Sakura noticed. "Yea hi. Sakura-san, why don't you introduce yourself to me, too?"

Sakura cocked a sharp eyebrow. "Throw myself at you so sickeningly sweet? No thanks. And, its **Kinomoto**-san to you, Li Syaoran. You already know my name, too." Sakura slammed her physics book shut, the loud noise resounding through the canteen. People turned to look. She picked up her lunch and stood up abruptly. She dragged Tomoyo with one hand, the black-haired girl smiling all the way. She brushed past Syaoran coolly. 

"I don't need another person to bother me!" She muttered to herself. Unknown to her, Syaoran heard.

Janet looked relieved as Sakura disappeared up the staircase, and murmured to herself. "Good, the damn bitch is gone." She placed a hand on her hip and turned to face Syaoran. "Syaoran – damn you, Kinomoto!" 

Syaoran was not there anymore. 

Interesting, he thought, as he disappeared in the crowd of students.

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"Sakura!"

Oh no, Sakura groaned. Not Ryu! She knew that voice too well. She made a wild dash up the flight of stairs up to the rooftop, with Tomoyo at her heels.

Ryu stood standing at the bottom, his black hair smoothly slicked back with gel. "Won't you go out with me? Tonight, pretty please? Just once and I'm sure you will want to go again! I really missed you the previous holiday!" He yelled up the stairs. 

Sakura sighed. "Never!" She yelled back. Tomoyo giggled again, beside her. "What an exciting first day, isn't it?" She smirked, then threw back her head and laughed. "Tough luck, Sakura-chan!"

"Yea, it's absolutely great." Sakura smiled a little sarcastically, joining in with Tomoyo's laughter. She settled down against the wall. Rooftops make great escapes.

t. s. u. z. u. k. u.

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Author's notes: sorry la, another one here. Tell me if the chapter is confusing… =) like, I just gave a little bit of everything. =) Flashbacks come later, at appropriate times…ehehehe. Give me some comments, k? =) Like, Sakura has a lot of trouble like that. Of course, she is pretty and popular, everyone know her mahzZz. Just to say, this is not the first year of high school, it is the third year, like what I am in now. 

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DreamerDust, thanks for your review! But no, this is not based on the manga. Who is Arima? Who is Yukino? (I only know Yukino from GK. She is so cool. Literally.) Thanks, **Silver Wings4004**.

Just to say…I edited the chapter 2 of "Leave me alone", cause I found a number of errors… hey, I was typing at midnight trying to make myself sleepy, and I did get very sleepy anyway. Take a look! Muahahaz. 

Arigato gozaimasu! Got any questions can ask. 

Please review! 

Oyasumi nasai!


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